


Patton The Good Boy

by periwren



Category: Real Person Fiction, Sander Sides, Sanders Sides (Web Series), Thomas Sanders, Video Blogging RPF, youtube - Fandom
Genre: Adopting, Dog Patton, Fluff, Kid Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Service Dogs, Talk about Therapy, family fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2019-11-04 07:46:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17894360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/periwren/pseuds/periwren
Summary: Logan and Roman as parents of Virgil who has been diagnosed with anxiety. They decide to adopt a dog as a new member of their family hoping that it will help Virgil. At the shelter they meet Patton a golden retriever and a failed Service Dog.And a very good Doggo.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Got the idea for this fic from a tumblr post or something somewhere.

“We can’t get a dog from a _puppy_ _farm_! They treat dogs horribly and they just breed them to look cute – pug’s eyes get so big that they have sight problems and-”

“ _I didn’t say a puppy farm Roman!_ I said maybe we should consider a pet store – somewhere we would be assured of the dogs breeding – so we would know of any health issues in advance. We could purchase a young dog and therefore _train_ it ourselves. I am just concerned that the dogs at the shelter, might well -have been mistreated before they ended up there and potentially have behavioural issues, I do not want to get a dog that turns out to have an aggressive temperament –”

“Oh don’t worry I will find the bestest-”

“That is not a proper word.”

“Most wonderful, greatest dog in the entire shelter!”

“Roman remember we are not getting this dog for you, we are getting it for Virgil.”

“I know that – hey buddy are you excited about picking a new member of the family?” Roman asked cheerfully over his shoulder.

Virgil fidgeted nervously in the back seat.

“Um -ah… I-I guess.” stuttered the young boy and immediately started biting his nails.

“Angel, please stop doing that.” asked Logan as he looked around at Virgil.

“Sorry Dad.”

“Hey um what about your fidget spinner – how about you play with that.” suggested Logan feeling guilty about the nail biting. Virgil’s therapist was the one that suggested that it would be easier, and they probably have more success at stopping the nail biting if they gave Virgil something to do as an alternative.

 The therapist had said that Virgil was biting when he was feeling anxious or nervous and having his Dad’s tell him to stop it, was making the situation worse for several reasons – he didn’t have an outlet for the nervousness, he was getting more anxious because he thinks his fathers were upset with him when he did it and disappointed in him when he did it again.

Logan sighed he couldn’t believe that they had had to take their little boy to a therapist. Then he felt guilty again for thinking that because the therapist made it clear to them that it was important that everybody understood that getting therapy – getting help – was something that should be looked at in a positive light. Many parents make their child’s situation worse by treating the therapy as some dirty little secret. Like it’s something shameful, like it proves there’s something wrong with the child that needs to be fixed and shouldn’t be spoken about.

Logan didn’t want to be that sort of parent. And he knew Roman didn’t want to be either. Their son had anxiety. There was nothing wrong with that.

It’s just sometimes Logan couldn’t help wondering _why_ Virgil had developed anxiety. He had a stable home life with two loving fathers. They hadn’t moved. There were no deaths in his family. Virgil had not had any traumatic illness or injuries. They were financially secure – he had roof over his head, food and toys – everything a child could want. They lived in a good neighbourhood.  As it had gotten worse Roman and Logan were convinced that something must have been happening at school! But no, countless talks with Virgil, his teacher, parents of the other kids came up fruitless – he wasn’t getting bullied, harassed or left out of anything by the other kids.

Logan and Roman couldn’t explain any of it, while other children were delighted with world around them, getting bigger, learning new things, seeking out new experiences, their son gradually grew more and more worried about everything in his life, big things, small things, things that might happen, things that probably wouldn’t happen, things that had already happened, things that were happening right now, what other people were thinking – their bright boy had become a nervous wreck. 

Logan looked back at Virgil again, he was holding the fidget spinner (not using it) and looked deep into Logan’s eyes and said seriously, “Dad, will the dogs be in cages?”

“Um well most likely but they are called kennels – they are special homes for dogs not exactly a cage.”

“So-so they can’t bite me?”

“Oh son don’t worry – none of the dogs there are going to bite you!” cried Roman.

“Roman is right and both of us will be with you the whole time.” said Logan.

“What if they have behavioural issues?!” Virgil asked sounding almost hysterical.

“Virgil – it’s okay, all of the dogs will be really nice, Logan didn’t know what he was talking about before.” snapped Roman doing a side glare at Logan.

Logan leaned over to the back seat and put a reassuring hand on Virgil’s knee, “I’m sorry I said that. It wasn’t a nice thing to say especially since I haven’t seen any of these dogs before, don’t worry we will find a really good boy for you Virgil.”

Logan turned back around.

Maybe it’s us, he thought miserably, maybe Roman and my bickering is making Virgil anxious? Someone once said that Roman and I make such a mismatched couple, that I always see the glass as half empty and Roman sees the glass as the open ocean. And maybe our worst traits have come together in Virgil and our son now constantly thinks he’s drowning.

Logan spared another look in the rear-view mirror at Virgil. Someone looking into their car would never believe that they were taking him to get a dog! Logan really, really hoped that they could find a really good boy for Virgil.

~~~~~

Oh dear, thought Logan as they pulled into the carpark, not all the dogs are in kennels.

The front yard of the shelter was fenced off but there were a few dogs running around the grassy yard with a worker who waved cheerfully at them as the exited the car. The dogs ran up to the fence and started barking happily. Virgil latched onto Roman who picked him up.

“Ooof,” groaned Roman, “Have you been lifting weights little man – when did you get so big.”

“Am I too heavy?”

“Not at all. Daddy’s got you.”

Logan was glad that Roman had thought to keep carrying Virgil as they went inside as there were a few more dogs that were sitting around the office.

All looked at them curiously as the entered, some wondered over – causing Virgil to grip Roman tighter, while others were happy to just remain on their dog beds.  A friendly man greeted them.

“What’s up everyone? My name is Thomas – was there anything I could do to help you today?”

“Greetings my name is Logan, this is my husband Roman and my son Virgil – we spoke on the phone yesterday.”

“Ah yes you were looking to adopt a nice family dog – is that right? Well come and have a look around we have lots and lots of suitable dogs that need a good loving home.”

Thomas gave them a guided tour of shelter, after awhile Roman was able to put Virgil down once he had got used to the dogs, but he still jumped and clung to his father’s arms every time a dog barked unexpectedly. Roman seemed to be having a wonderful time patting every dog he could and Virgil did seem to like watching him.

There were lots and lots of dogs, big ones, small ones, young puppies, older dogs. Logan and Roman didn’t really have any preference as to breed, they were really hoping that Virgil would hit it off with one of the dogs.

Virgil looked a bit overwhelmed. Logan thought maybe they should tell him that there was no pressure and he didn’t have to decide straight away when the back door opened. Logan expected a person to walk through the door but instead it was a gorgeous adult golden retriever.

“Oh, hello Patton. Does Joan know that you’ve decided to come back inside huh boy?” asked Thomas speaking bit of a baby voice to the dog.

 Patton wondered around the legs of the humans giving everyone a friendly sniff. Virgil even tentatively patted his head following Roman’s lead.

“You know if you were looking for an intelligent dog you really can’t go past Patton here. He’s a failed Service dog.” stated Thomas.

Logan frowned at the oxymoron statement.

“What do you mean a “failed” service dog?” asked Logan hoping for clarification. At that moment Patton wondered back from around the back of Thomas’s desk holding a water bottle in his mouth. He walked over and put the water bottle down in front of Virgil’s feet.

“You giving him my water bottle Patton hmm? Does Virgil look thirsty to you?” said Thomas shaking his head at the golden retriever that just looked proud of himself. “Well you see –” replied Thomas looking at Logan now, “Patton here was trained to be a Service Dog knows all the actions but… he doesn’t exactly do the things he’s been trained to do on command. He can if he wants to but, he also sometimes does them whenever he feels like it, so unfortunately they had to fail him. But he is such a good boy – Virgil are you thirsty?”

Virgil looked at the water bottle on the ground “Ah-um a-a little.”

“You can have a drink out of my bottle or I can get you your own glass if you like.”

Roman looked very impressed at Patton, “Good boy!”

They wondered around the shelter for probably another good hour. Logan noticed that Virgil kept being drawn back towards the golden retriever Patton wherever they went but he didn’t want to say anything – it had to be Virgil’s decision.

Finally Logan cleared his throat “Ahem – so Virgil do you know if you want to pick anyone to take home with us?”

Virgil instantly became panicky at the thought of having to make a decision and started to bite his fingers again. Patton walked over and leaned against his leg to provide reassurance, Virgil without realising it brought down one hand to pat the dog.

Roman raised his eyebrows meaningfully at Logan. Logan nonverbally tried to convey: yes, I want him to get this dog too but we can’t push it.

Virgil looked at Thomas “Will-will you miss Patton if we take him away?”

Thomas smiled sweetly. “Of course –” Virgil looked upset “But I really want Patton to go to a good home. I miss all the dogs that leave here but they can’t stay here forever – it will get way too crowded, I’ll have doggies growing out of my ears! But maybe you can give me your address and some day I can come and visit Patton and see how he’s getting on– if that’s okay with your Dads of course.”

So it was decided that Virgil, Roman and Logan would adopt Patton the failed Service Dog golden retriever. They filled out the paperwork, Joan the other worker came in and they and Thomas said their goodbyes to Patton. Logan was very confused when they started removing some things from cupboards and draws around the shelter and put them in a bag with other items they were taking with Patton, like a lead, collar, water bowl and bed.

“You’ll probably need these when you get home.” said Thomas giving Logan the bag.

Roman and Virgil held Patton’s lead together because Virgil was scared that he might lose Patton on the short walk to their car.

“Goodbye Patton.” said Thomas and Joan as the family was about to head out the door.

Patton looked at them and then walked over to the side of the door and reached up with his paw and hit the light switch turning off the lights. Patton turned back around panting happily in the semi darkness.

“Patton turn the light on.” instructed Thomas.

Patton turned the lights back on. “Oh that’s a good boy Patton.”

Logan felt a bit concerned at how independent this dog could be and had a feeling that they would be in for a lot more shenanigans in their home with their new family member as Patton opened the car door for Virgil.

As they were driving home Roman asked, “What was in that extra bag they gave you?”

Logan peeked inside the bag, “Ah they’re child safety locks.”

Logan smiled as he looked over and saw Patton resting his head on Virgil’s lap a real genuine smile on his sons face that he hadn’t seen in a very long time. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton is a good boy! Always tidying up things.

Logan looked over the top of his newspaper and frowned slightly.

Patton had walked into the room and was sitting innocently on the rug in the middle of the room, panting slightly and looking happy – the kind of blissfully happy only a dog can seem to achieve.

Logan was instantly suspicious. He must have done something.

“What have you been up to boy? Hmm?” asked Logan looking over the rims of his glasses at Patton.

Patton continued to look at Logan a picture of innocence.

“Oh, do not try and hoodwink me. I am the head of this household no matter what Roman says – I know you’ve been up to mischief, _haven’t you, haven’t you boy_.” A few months ago, if you had told Logan that he would be happily babbling away to a dog in baby talk, he would have scoffed at you and told you that you were being delusional – him and baby talk – never!

But since introducing Patton the golden retriever into their family primarily to help with their son’s Virgil’s anxiety, Logan had to admit he had quickly become as attached and smitten with the dog as his husband and son.

Although there were times he had to wonder if the dog actually was good for their son’s anxiety – like now because-

“Dad, DAD! I-I can’t find my shoes. And-and oh _I’mgoingtobelateand-_ ” cried Virgil from the hallway, sounding quite upset. It was almost time for him to leave for school and now he was panicking because his shoes had vanished.

Now if you were a parent in this situation there would be several very normal responses such as;

“Where did you see them last?” or “Did you look in the closet?” or “Did you check your room?” “I told you to tidy them up last night!” or “Do I look like your maid?!?”

Logan however gave Patton a stern “Ah so that’s what you have been doing huh?” look and called out to his son in the hallway, “Did you look in the fridge?”

Logan heard Virgil walking down the hallway and into the kitchen. A minute later he walked into the living room holding his shoes, “Found them,” he said as he sat next to Patton and put his shoes on, “Patton you gotta stop this – they’re so cold.”

Patton in response just rubbed up against him demanding a head scratching. Roman stuck his head in from the doorway, “Time to go kiddo!”

“Bye Patton, bye Dad.” said Virgil as he headed out.

“Goodbye, have a good day at school getting an enriching education.” replied Logan, “Oh and Roman make sure you _lock_ the door so the dog can’t get out!” he called after them as Patton made a whine and followed after Virgil – he _so_ wanted to go to school too.

“No Patton you have to stay here.” said Virgil from the hallway when suddenly Roman called out “Lo! Have you seen my car keys?”

“Did you check the fridge?” he demanded rolling his eyes – honestly his boys would lose their heads if they weren’t attached to their bodies, how hard was it to look for something and check for things in the fridge?!?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton is a good boy. He helps save electricity! He helps save water!

Logan smiled as he heard Roman call for Patton from the bathroom.

“Patton come back. Turn the lights back on!”

“Patton? Patton come back!”

“Turn the lights on Patton.”

“Patton c’mon be a good boy, come back!”

“Oh, Patton please.”

“It’s dark in here.”

“Patton?”

“Patton you are being a naughty boy!”

Logan had a hand in front of his mouth to stifle his laughter. Patton who walked into the room shortly after Roman started calling for him, came and put his head on Logan’s knee giving wide eyes to Logan begging for a head scratch.

The dog ignored the cries of Roman.

“You are a good boy, Patton.” said Logan who looked at the clock on the wall, yep as usual it had been twenty minutes.

Soon Roman walked into the bedroom wearing a towel his hair wet, he saw Patton getting pats from Logan and scowled.

“Patton, _naughty_.” he scolded.

“Roman! Patton is not naughty, he is a good boy! Aren’t you? Yes you are.”

“He turned the lights off while I was in the shower!”

“I know.”

“Again.”

“I know.”

“I couldn’t see!”

“Oh, don’t be silly, Patton left the door open.”

“I know! I was naked!”

“So?”

“Wha-you-I, _hello I was naked_! What if Virgil walked by – I could have scarred him for life!”

“Virgil is at school. And seeing you naked isn’t going to scar him for life.”

“What if _you_ walked by.”

“I am your husband! We are married. I have seen you naked. I am supposed to see you naked! And I am hoping to see you naked again in the future.”

“Oh um well what about if you had a plumber or some trades person come to the house –”

“If we needed a plumber you wouldn’t be in the shower.”

“W-well what about Patton-”

“Patton is a dog. And obviously seen you naked because he went in there to turn off the lights.”

“Which he shouldn’t be doing!”

“Which I don’t care that he’s doing because he is stopping you from having your ridiculous 45minute showers. By turning off the lights, he has cut your shower time down to half! And that is why he is a good boy. Personally, I can’t wait to see the savings on our water bill.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton is a good boy. He shares with everyone!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am Australian and as such have no idea how the tipping process actually works :P  
> because where I'm from you wouldn't tip the pizza delivery person.

There is a local pizza place that has a running joke that one of the families that they deliver to has taught their dog how to tip. So there is always some good-natured rivalry on who gets to make the delivery to their “best tipper”.

That dog is Patton. But his family hasn’t taught him how to tip the pizza guy. Patton is a good boy, but he is not “tipping” anyone, in fact he is actually sharing because he doesn’t give out any money.

You see, as a way to try and ease their young son Virgil, who suffered from anxiety, into interacting with other people without getting terribly nervous and having a break down his parents Roman and Logan thought that small doses of interaction would be beneficial, rather than thrusting Virgil into a situation that involved extended contact with a new individual.

 Roman and Logan had the idea that Virgil talking to the pizza delivery person would be a good start and they would be with Virgil for the interaction. To start off with they just wanted Virgil to stand with them when the delivery arrived and try and greet the person. Gradually they were planning on building up to the point where Virgil could confirm the order, pay the person, and even answer the door without Roman and Logan.

They … weren’t quite there yet. But they had made progress Virgil could now make a sort of grimace (which was meant to be a smile) and a bit of a squeak for a greeting and goodbye. He could now also sometimes hand the person the money without panicking.

Patton of course had been a big help. He would come to the door when the pizza arrived and would stay close to Virgil’s side because he could feel how anxious he was. Patton would always be there to make Virgil feel better, he loved Virgil. At the start Patton was a bit confused as why Virgil would go from excited (the pizza was coming!) to anxious (I have to interact with someone oh no.) to excited again (the pizza was here). But Patton knows that the pizza delivery guy coming is a good thing, those boxes have food!

And sometimes when it’s Roman and Virgil answering the door after the delivery man goes they do a “Pizza dance” down the hallway, well more Roman than Virgil but Patton _loves_ the pizza dance. Patton gets to run around in circles and jump about because Roman does that too singing “Pizza, pizza, pizza!” and Logan only snaps at Roman not Patton about “if you drop that Pizza we are not ordering a new one!”

The pizza delivery guy coming is a good thing Patton thinks, even over time Virgil has become less and less anxious – definitely because Patton is always there by his side.

But Patton see’s that Logan and Roman give the pizza delivery guy something in his hand each time they come and _then_ they get the boxes of food. Patton decides that he needs to do that too. Maybe then Logan will give him his own box and not just what Roman and Virgil sneak him under the table. Yes this is a good idea.

And so, one time when the pizza arrived as Roman and Virgil were confirming their order Patton quickly dashed back into the kitchen, jumped up and grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl. Running back to the front door he went straight up to the man and started pawing his legs, as the man started patting Patton “Who’s a good boy huh?”, Patton dropped the banana at his feet.

Roman laughed as the man looked confused and awkwardly held the banana up “Um what do I do with this?”

“I dunno – you can keep it if you want? Like an extra tip I guess, good boy Patton.” said Roman as he looked down at their dog.

And from that day on, every time they had a pizza delivery Patton would give the person delivering it something from the kitchen. Usually it was something from the fruit bowl like an apple or a banana, but other times it’s been something from the vegetable crisper like a potato or from the cupboard like a can of beans. They did have to take the milk back the time Patton tried to give them that but for almost everything else they let Patton give to the delivery person.

And thus their family became known at the local pizza place as the family with the dog that tips.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton is a good boy! He protects from monsters.

Roman and Logan looked up at their ceiling as they were sitting on their couch in the living room. They were downstairs watching a show together trying to unwind a bit before going to bed. They had already tucked their son Virgil into bed for the night, he could read a bit in bed before he had to turn off the lights for sleep.

The two parents jumped up from the couch as they heard Virgil let out a panicked shriek. And now they could hear Patton barking. Their adopted failed service dog Patton wasn’t a big barker – especially at night where the neighbours could complain. Something was wrong.

They raced upstairs as Patton continued to bark and Virgil started crying out in distress “DAD!” In Virgil’s room they found Virgil standing on his bed, terrified and starting to hyperventilate. Patton was facing a pile of Virgil’s toys in a corner barking at them, even growling slightly. But as Patton got close to the pile, he suddenly dropped his tail and whimpered, scurrying backwards as if suddenly afraid of the toys, only to look back at Virgil standing on the bed behind him scared and then start barking protectively again. Patton kept repeating this cycle of advance and then retreat.

It would be funny if Logan and Roman had any idea as what was going on. Why was Virgil so scared? What was Patton barking at? Why was Patton crawling back scared?

“D-d-Dad!” cried Virgil pointing a trembling finger at his toys.

“Virgil calm down sweetie. Just breath. Remember to count just like we taught you – there we go.” said Logan calmly as he comforted his child. He frowned as he watched Patton continue to bark at the toys and then whimper back.

There must be something in there, concluded Logan, but what? What could be making Patton react this way?

Logan was able to get Virgil to calm down a little bit but not entirely and he also refused to get down off the bed, by now Logan could had taken a calculated guess as to what was in the toys and he knew Virgil wouldn’t completely calm down until it was removed.

“Th-there’s a sp-sp” stuttered Virgil.

Aha, my hunch is correct, thought Logan.

“Don’t worry baby – Daddy’s will get rid of the spider.” said Logan standing up moving towards the toys.

“That’s right!” boomed Roman confidently “Never fear – The fearless and heroic Roman will save the day- er night!”

Logan rolled his eyes. Roman laughed as he ruffled Patton’s head as the dog scurried backwards again, “Silly Patton. Are you scared of the itsy-bitsy spider too?”

“Roman! Many people suffer from arachnophobia,” scolded Logan, “And Patton probably doesn’t know what a spider is.” Logan didn’t like Roman teasing Patton even though their dog couldn’t understand them. Logan really did have a soft spot for Patton.

“Okay, okay, sorry.” said Roman as he started moving some of the toys to find the spider, “Now let’s get this – AAAAHHHHH!”

Roman screamed as a huntsman the side of his hand raced up the wall from inside the toys. Roman still screaming ran back and jumped onto Virgil’s bed as well, where Virgil screamed again clinging onto his leg and Patton still wanting to help Virgil but also scared and probably very confused – started running around in circles and then jumped onto the bed too and then continued to try and run in circles up there almost knocking Roman off in the process.

“OH MY GOD, LOGAN KILL IT!”

“Roman! Stop it calm down.”

“KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT.”

“Oh, Roman come on – you are an adult!”

_“KILL IT WITH FIRE!”_

Logan face palmed.

“I agree let’s burn the house down!”

“ _Virgil_!”

“Logan where are you going? Don’t leave us!”

“Everything is fine, I am just going to get supplies needed to remove it.” said Logan as he walked out the room trying to think if they had a container large enough to catch the spider and then carry it out with a magazine – hmm maybe better get the bug spray just in case he couldn’t and –

“Wait for us!” shouted Roman scooping his son up princess carry style giving one more terrified look to the spider on the wall before making a break for the hallway. Patton jumped down off the bed too and followed. Then the dog turned around and grabbed the door handle pulling the door shut trapping the monster inside.

“Oh, good boy Patton!” cried Roman “Logan look how smart and brave Patton is!”

“Yes. Once again our dog shows us that he is much more capable and dependable than you are in a crisis.”

“Wh-what?” spluttered Roman holding up Virgil higher in his arms gesturing to Logan: Look, look at this! I saved our son.

Virgil giggled, he liked being carried by his dad and felt better now that he was in a different room than the spider.

Logan rolled his eyes again, “Patton, unlike you Roman, despite being scared, didn’t just run away, he protected Virgil by putting himself between the spider in the toys and Virgil. And he kept barking and growling at them too – he’s a good boy, aren’t you Patton, aren’t you huh?” Logan started baby talking to Patton again.

Roman adrenalin still pumping through his veins (which was the justification he would use to explain why he said this later) just responded with “Well I can bark and growl at toys too! I just didn’t know the spider was in there. If I did I would do exactly everything Patton was doing!”

Logan blinked and then sighed (mentally storing up the image of Roman on the ground barking at toys) he said, “Alright how about you two go to our room and lay down on our bed while I finish up getting rid of the spider.”

Roman took Virgil to their bedroom as Logan went downstairs to get everything he needed. When he was finished he walked into his bedroom to find Roman and Virgil snuggled up tightly together with Patton laying on top of the blankets, his body draped over their legs. Logan smiled at how cute they all looked but also had to wonder if he was actually going to fit in the bed with them.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton is a good boy. He carries bags.

Roman plastered a big smile on his face and cheerfully boomed “You’re going to have a great day today Virgil I promise!”

Truthfully Roman was being over the top cheerful in an attempt to reassure his son who seemed to be very worried and anxious.

“Sports day is the best, Virgil.”

Virgil nervously bit his fingers “Um… okay.” He quickly looked behind him into the back seat where his best friend Patton – their family dog – was sitting.

Roman knew Virgil didn’t like change and Sports day was very different from your normal school day – there weren’t any normal classes and Virgil had to dress in his sports house colours rather than his usual clothes.

“Patton loves sports day too, you know.” said Roman in an attempt to lighten his son’s mood as they drove to school.

“Oh, really? Um Dad… is it okay for Patton to be here?” asked Virgil looking back at the happy dog.

“Oh yes don’t worry, Patton won’t open the doors until we park the car.” explained Roman, at least that’s what Roman hopes, their failed service Dog was very talented and could open car doors – but he had never opened them while the car was moving – Roman hoped that this would continue to be the case.

Virgil kept looking back and forth between his father and his pet nervously, “Um…okay.”

Patton sat in the back seat happily next to Virgil’s school bag which he had carried into the car with him.

“Almost there.” said Roman.

“Gr-great dad um – ah!” exclaimed Virgil as Roman’s phone rang again. Honestly that was the third time in the last ten minutes. Virgil didn’t like it when his fathers’ phones rang while driving – they **_never_** used their phones behind the wheel of course – but there were always adds on TV that showed how dangerous it was and this made Virgil anxious.  

“Don’t worry son, I’ll answer it after I drop you off.” said Roman.

“O-okay.” Virgil also was anxious about the fact that his father was missing all these phone calls – Who was calling? Was it something important? Should they pull over so Roman could see who it was – but that might make him late for school and-and-

“Virgil – hey buddy, everything’s alright don’t worry so much about the phone – it’s probably just some telemarketer scam okay.” said Roman seeing how concerned his son was becoming over the missed phone calls. Roman was getting annoyed as the phone rang again – it had to be a scam – there was no reason for someone to call him this much this early in the morning.

Finally, the family pulled into the school drop off zone, Patton started panting excitedly as he looked out the window and saw all of the school kids milling about. Virgil kept looking nervously at him.  

“Okay son have a great day at school – Oh looks like Patton’s off!” laughed Roman as Patton picked up Virgil’s school bag and opened the back door jumping out of the car. Patton started walking happily towards the school carrying Virgil’s bag.

“Ah – oh no.” said Virgil as he watched Patton.

Children started crowding around to pat Patton who looked delighted, wagging his tail excitedly at all the attention.

“Ha, ha. Patton’s as popular as ever. Go on Virgil off you go. I bet everyone will want to know all about Patton.”

“Wha-ah-um…okay? Um bye Dad.” said Virgil who was very confused as he hopped out of the car, Patton barked happily as he made his way over to him and all the kids started asking him questions about his dog.

“Bye son have fun at school!” shouted Roman from the car.

With one last confused look and a nervous wave, Virgil picked up his backpack and started walking towards his classroom with Patton and crowd of excited children in tow. Some of the parents of other children who were at the drop off too gave Patton some bemused looks as the watch the friendly dog head off to class.

Meanwhile Roman picked up his phone to see who had been constantly calling him. It was Logan.

Roman called him back, wondering what was wrong – why had his husband been calling him so urgently.

“Hey Logan – what’s going on? Why were you calling so much?”

“Lost Patton?”

“What? No. No, he’s not. He’s with me – well, I mean he’s with Virgil right now so-”

“What do you mean? He came with us in the car.”

“Yeah, he’s just gone inside with Virgil and – _(GASP)_ LOGAN OH GOD I BROUGHT THE DOG TO _SCHOOL_!”

And with that Roman hurriedly jumps out of the car and races into the school like a madman trying to chase down his son and his pet, yelling, “PATTON. PATTON COME BACK! VIRGIL YOU CAN’T TAKE THE DOG TO SCHOOL!”


End file.
